GOP jumps on Moreland scandal

Corruption used in campaigns even as data shows voter apathy toward developing issue

By Matthew Hamilton

Published 9:29 pm, Thursday, July 24, 2014

Albany

Republicans have wasted no time slamming statewide officeholders over what is perhaps the juiciest piece of news they've had to run on during this election cycle: the unfolding Moreland Commission meddling scandal involving the governor's office.

But while Rob Astorino, John Cahill and Robert Antonacci already are using on the campaign trail the revelations printed Wednesday in The New York Times, polling of voters about corruption and specifically the Moreland Commission seems to point toward a small impact.

Only 1 percent of likely voters statewide — and 1 percent of upstaters — said government corruption and ethics is the top issue on their minds when choosing a gubernatorial candidate to support, according to Monday's Siena Research Institute poll, taken before the Times story was published.

An April Siena poll showed the term "Moreland Commission" was the antithesis of a buzzword, with 72 percent of voters saying they had heard not much, if anything at all, about the disbanding of the panel and 68 percent saying they weren't following the news about the commission closely, if at all.

"Voters are much more focused on their everyday lives than they are on what's happening in Albany, particularly so given that there is this jaded view of elected officials and politicians," Siena College pollster Steve Greenberg said. "Over the last several years, with great regularity, they read about or hear about an elected official being convicted or indicted or arrested."

Despite the data, Republican statewide candidates are pushing to get out their message about cleaning up Albany. Astorino and Cahill have been making the media rounds, with both doing multiple radio interviews over the last two days. Astorino also held a Wednesday afternoon conference call with reporters and said the governor is "knee-deep in scandal."

Comptroller candidate Antonacci also has gotten in on the action, lambasting in a statement Thursday state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for not auditing the commission.

All three Republican candidates trail the incumbents and are unknown by a relatively large number of voters, something Astorino has admitted about his own candidacy.

Greenberg said it's too early to tell if the Times story and the continued follow-up coverage will change public opinion and knowledge about corruption. But will the issue have the longevity to turn into something voters think about in the booth?

"Certainly Rob Astorino and the Republicans are going to do everything they possibly can to ensure it has legs," Greenberg said. "The governor and the Democrats are going to try to do everything they can to try to make this a one-day or at least a very short-lived story. Who is successful? We don't know that yet."

Greenberg said the wild card is U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara and where his investigation into Moreland-related matters takes him. Bharara's take on corruption is the one spot where voters tend to voice a stronger opinion. Sixty-one percent said in April that they agreed with the federal prosecutor that the commission should have been allowed to continue its work.